


The Old Future

by Icandigelvis



Series: The Old Boat House [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Epilogue, Fantasy, M/M, Mermaids, Mermen, Merpeople, The Old Boat House
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-07 04:31:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16401350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Icandigelvis/pseuds/Icandigelvis
Summary: Epilogue to The Old Boat House.





	The Old Future

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while, my old friend. 
> 
> Though I like ending works for the reader to imagine the rest, I kinda felt like writing a little something for all the amazing readers who liked and commented on this fic through the years ~*:・ﾟ✧

Eren dipped his hands into the bucket, washing off the remainder of fish scales and blood. His knife was getting rustier by the day, he thought as he dipped it in the water and tried cleaning it best as he could. Rubbing the blade on his shirt only dirtied his shirt further and he sighed. The sun had still not risen and the water was calm, quiet and still. He glanced at the horizon in front of him. It felt so far, far away but also in reach, the water black and sky orange. It would probably be another couple minutes before the sun bid them good morning.

Sniffling a little Eren sat down by the little fireplace he’d built with rocks and an old pan. Eleven matches left, he counted. Another thing they’d have to buy at their next stop, he noted. At least they had loads of salt, he mused, opening the tin can and sprinkling some over his two skinned perches. It wasn’t the meatiest of fish, but Eren prefered the taste.

After starting a fire, successfully with only one match as there was no wind in the morning, he held the speared fish over the flames, absently licking his lips. Turning around after balancing the spears against the pan he opened the lid to a wooden box containing mostly drinks and liquid. Most of it was water - because curse Mother Nature for making the ocean undrinkable - but there was also two bottles of mead left. Or some sort of moonshine the man who sold it to him had brewed. Eren instead grabbed the last bottle, the one with plum wine. He’d been a big fan of milk back home but it was something he’d have to give up, living on the ocean.

The liquid spilled around in the bottle, nearly half-full. Pulling on the kork Eren heard the satisfying sound, nearly echoing in the quietness, and took a swig. After remembering to turn over the fish he got comfortable in his seat, pulling his lamb skin tighter around himself, absently tracing the locks.

Eren never got tired of watching the endless ocean. Especially the horizon, as the sky lay bare all over his head, some stars still visible. Eren wondered if he’d see any fall tonight.

Something caught his eye in the water, just outside the boat. He stretched forwards a little, watching lily pads pass them as the boat slowly made its way forwards. There had to be some wind as they were moving forward, slowly but still. They weren’t in a hurry.

Eren had learned how to properly read a map and knew approximately how long it would take. With a snort he remembered back to his frustration in the beginning of their travels, with how he expected them to be at their destination in much less time than realistic. Levi had gone mad with him then, and even more so as Eren’s paranoia about them being lost grew.

Taking out two wooden plates, still in rather good shape, he put the fish on each. Reaching back into another crate he took out two potatoes, impaling two on either stick. One stick broke off at the end, Eren glaring at it. He was too comfortable in his seat to get up and fetch another so he simply shoved it onto the stump, hoping it wouldn’t fall of into the flames.

When he deemed the potatoes finished he put them aside too, humming to himself as he crawled forwards on the wooden deck. The boat was in a serious need of a clean soon, moss growing on the edges.

Crawling up to the opening in the front Eren smiled to himself, leaning over the edge, resting his chin onto his arms. The water was dark beneath the surface, but with the light slowly rising above Eren the waves were eventually more and more visible to him. He couldn’t see that far down though; they were out deep now after all. Something passed to his left but his eyes were too slow to catch it.

Eren hummed loudler, a melody he couldn’t remember the name of. He knew some of the lyrics, trying them out and humming when he couldn’t remember the rest of the words. It was a sad song, he thought absently.

Soon a shape under the surface appeared, eyes piercing where they almost seemed to shine in the dark. Even though years had gone by, and Eren played it off with a grin, a shiver still ran down his back. Instincts never grew away, huh.

As Levi neared the surface, Eren reached down lazilly with one arm, fingertip trailing the cold surface. His scales shone and shimmered as sun rays hit them, Levi ascending enough for proper sunlight to reach him.

“My, are you trying to lure me onto your boat, sailor?” Levi asked as he breached the surface, spitting out the rest of the water in his mouth.

“It’s _Captain_ , I believe,” Eren corrected him, “and I believe the smell of food will be the only real lure I have. I hope it works,” he smiled.

One of Levi’s hands trailed up his arm, his skin cold and wet, nails sharp claws. The hair on Eren’s arm rose with the shiver from the chilled water.

“Oh, it’s quite enticing, I’ve never smelled this before. Salted perch and, is that, do I dare, potatoes? What a luxury,” Levi hummed and Eren couldn’t help but to laugh loudly, breaking the silence around them.

Eren pulled back and stood up, tip-toeing back to his seat on the hay seat. It was a cheap and effective excuse for a couch or outside-bed as the blanket they threw over could easily be removed and dried if it ever became wet. Which it did practically daily. Eren watched Levi scoot over to sit beside him, reaching for a towel.

Winter had been tough, Eren remembered as he dug into his food. He had gotten better at removing bones from all types of fish but he was still a bit cautious.

When snow first fell over them half a year ago Eren had decided with a determined look they would deal with this winter better than the last. The water of the ocean didn’t freeze, so the boat could continue. However, with the storms growing stronger and the danger of the icy water, they stayed docked for most of the winter or traveled along coasts. Ang Levi spent less time in the water. A plan that had proven to work was where Levi would go underwater for three straight day, then spend the rest of the week with Eren. The other way was staying inside and wetting his tail and fins with water from the bucket. While he needed the ocean to survive, he didn’t want to spend time away from Eren. And the doors to the boat had to stay closed for them to keep warmth in.

“I think I saw one of them yesterday,” Levi said, bringing Eren out of his thoughts. He raised an eyebrow first in confusion before he stilled.

“The c-coral?” he asked, swallowing his last piece of the food. Levi had finished faster than him, taking Eren’s plate to clean both in the bucket. Eren watched his fins ripple, all at the same time, like a shiver. The human reached over to absentmindedly smooth out the tail-fin.

“They were quite far away, so I can’t be sure. I don’t even know if it was a he or a she, so it could’ve been just something else and the trick of the light,” Levi explained, eyes narrowing at the sun when it hit his face. Scooting back to Eren he let the light fall onto his back instead. Eren knew he liked the warmth of the sun, even if being dry got increasingly uncomfortable with time.

“Do you think they will confront you? If it’s them?” Eren asked, his fingers traveling over the smooth skin of his tail, admiring the patterns, having memorized most of them.

“They might. I am not sure,” he said, glancing to the side. Eren bit his lip in thought. If they were friendly it obviously wouldn't be a problem, but they couldn’t know for sure. Levi wasn’t too familiar with the family that lived around here, only knew they hunted man, like most merfolk.

Eren had asked him about it before. He wasn’t one to shy away from conversations, after all. If he was curious, he would ask.

“Do you miss it?” he’d asked, during the second winter when they lay cuddled together for warmth in the boat’s hut. Eren was covered in both sheepskin, the small oil lamp lit by his feet. “Eating humans, I mean.”

Levi raised an eyebrow in the dark, looking up for a second from where he was massaging Eren’s hands, careful with his claws.

“I have to admit you taste quite nice,” Levi explained, used to Eren’s random questions “a bit like cows and horses, which we rarely get to feast on. You see, they are smart enough not to go into water unless they have to.”

“But fish is nice too?” Eren asked after turning it over for a few seconds.

“Fish is nice. But I’ve told you before I’m tired of the perch you insist I hunt for you,” he grunted while Eren snickered, “but I don’t mind if you’d in turn bring me some dog every now and then.”

Eren grimached, turning to look at Levi with distaste, the merman cracking a smile in reply.

“If you find more coins at the next harbor I’ll buy you a goat though,” Eren hummed. It would never cease to impress him how much money drunk sailors spilled overboard while unloading their ships at the harbor.

***-***-***

The coral merpeople eventually went up to Levi. Eren had been resting when it’d happened and Levi told him afterwards, letting Eren sleep in that morning. He had tired out the human quite a bit the night before, after all. Bitemarks, hickeys and all.

“So, we’re cool?” Eren asked, still a bit cautious to go near the edge of the boat as he now knew they were sailing across the coral’s territory.

“They won’t bother us. They did give me a similar speech to the one that the traveling group outside Mitras gave me, though,” Levi muttered.

“Eat me?” Eren hummed, a bit humorly, “Are you gonna take their advice?”

“I just might,” Levi said, trying to give Eren a scary look. Eren just grinned in reply, falling against him, the merman complaining about the weight of Eren.

An hour later they passed a group of rocks in the water and Eren had quietly eyed the broken skiff pushed up against the rocks. Bobbing in the waves it was stuck in place, Eren remembering the skiff he, Mikasa, Armin and Hannes had taken back when he was a child. And how only three of them had left the cliffs the next day.

Levi must’ve understood his thoughts because he sneaked up behind him, pulling him against his chest, resting his chin on his shoulder. Nosing his hair Eren smiled a little, to show he was okay, and held onto the heavy tail Levi snaked into his lap, fin flapping loudly against the deck.

***-***-***

“What about eel then?” Eren tried, crossing his arms. It was late and dark outside but the moon shone bright as the sky was cleared of all clouds. It was still a little chilly and Eren pulled down the sleeves of his jacket further.

“There are none here,” Levi said, his eyes still unblinking where he looked at his lover. He had a tendency to do that, forgetting to blink sometimes. It certainly made him look more menacing, especially as he glared.

“Wait really?” Eren asked, surprised.

“The water isn’t deep enough. No eel, no normal perch,” Levi insisted.

“But I don’t want lobster again,” Eren whined, trying another tactic. When he pouted out his lip he watched Levi narrow his eyes in front of him. It was working, if only a little. “It’s a real pain in the ass to prepare them, and eating it day after day makes me sick. Like, it’s probably not good for me.”

“Then there’s otters, coypu, beavers or sea rats. I’m sick of fish,” Levi argued and Eren sighed. He glanced at the nearing island to their east. It seemed to be full of palm trees.

“Monkeys? Which hang in the trees above the streams?”

“Absolutely, as soon as we fucking get there, but I won’t swim all the way in search of them as they’re probably on the south side,” Levi said, taking the pear from Eren when he offered half.

“Okay,” Eren gave up. “Though I don’t think otters-

His voice quieted as a large flash of light lit up Levi’s face, Eren spinning around in his seat in shock. There, behind him, over by the horizon, flames rose high in the sky and Eren gasped. Then came the sound, crashing like thunder around them. Eren felt himself freeze as he watched pieces of the burning ship fall into the water, like a weird piece of fireworks, smoke now building from the wreck. The enemy ship was unharmed, as far as Eren could see. He gulped. They had been so involved in their arguing about food that they hadn’t noticed the two clearly-pirate-ships get into a fight. Eren had heard some yelling and then one or two cannonballs over the loud, whizzing wind but he hadn’t expected a real fight to break out.

He turned back to look at Levi who stared intently at the ship.

“They’re drifting this way,” he said and Eren nodded, feeling his pulse quicken. Their small boat was still probably unnoticed by the pirate ships, and they would without a doubt be uninteresting to the winning grand ship. But Eren still reached over and turned out their oil lamp.

The wind was too weak to push them anywhere with speed and Eren stood up to pull in the oars.

“I could push instead,” Levi suggested and Eren looked at him, thinking it over, before shaking his head.

“Let’s each take an oar, we’ll get closer to the island faster.”

With the ship still on fire in their line of sight Eren and Levi made their way away from it, the wind quieting around them, as if to let them hear the sounds from the two ships. One on fire in loss, one in cheers of victory. There was screaming and celebrating, but which was in fear or victory wasn’t clear.

***-***-***

“War… battles and fights are so unnecessary, aren’t they,” Eren whispered, a frown on his face where he rested on Levi’s naked chest. They had still not made a fire or lit the oil lamp, the hut mostly dark apart from the moonlight peeking inside.

Levi pulled his fingers through Eren’s hair in a slow pattern. He hummed in reply.

“So dumb,” Eren mumbled, pouting a little at Levi’s short chuckle. Perhaps he was being childish with those words, but he couldn’t quite care. To him reasons of money, power and fame didn’t matter. In the end lives were lost, people were hurt and hearts broken, no matter how.

Levi sometimes sang to him. That night he did. In a foreign language again, his voice breathy in the small space, not echoing like it usually did out in the open when he sang. But still beautiful, entrancing and enthralling Eren as the human closed his eyes, letting sleep take over him.

Outside the fire had disappeared with the ship as it lastly sank, swallowed by the the ocean. It was dark and quiet again, as the victory ship sailed away, celebrating their win with booze and songs. Perhaps one drunk sailor fell overboard but perhaps no one noticed as naked and beautiful women pulled him under the second he hit the surface.

***-***-***

Eren stared eye to eye with the monkey. It was a small one, just slightly larger than the coconuts in the trees. Eren wasn’t sure it was even a monkey.

But he stayed quiet on the boat, lying on his stomach where he was tanning in the sun. He was straining a bit to get up and fetch his waterskin but he didn’t want to piss Levi off while he was hunting, like accidentally making noise and scaring animals away.

The river was slow and they had taken down the sails, dropping the anchor about an hour ago.

Eren reached his threshold a couple minutes later and, as quietly as possible, crawled over to the edge where he left his skin, gulping down the contents with satisfaction. The water was quite warm from the sun but he didn’t mind.

Suddenly a loud splash had him snapping his head to his right, eyes widening as he watched a dark shape shoot out from the water and into the tree branches above the river. Birds flew away in screeching masses and Eren stared, mouth wide open, as a fight abrupted in the trees. A second later Levi grabbed whatever it was he got a hold of, and fell back into the water with a loud splash.

Eren was still stunned where he now sat, gaping at the water, waiting for Levi to surface with whatever it was he caught. It certainly wasn’t a small monkey, Eren gulped. The small ones on the branch he had been watching where long gone, having fled in fear.

With another splash as a warning Eren rolled to the side as Levi threw something onboard, Eren suddenly staring eye to eye with a mouth full of teeth. He released some sort of meep as Levi followed, pulling himself on board, pushing the large animal in front of him.

“What the fuck is that?!” Eren exclaimed, standing up on slightly shaky legs to point at the hopefully dead animal.

“I don’t know,” Levi said, panting a little. He looked up at Eren, coughing up water before pulling himself forwards, staring at his pray.

“It’s a fucking lion is what it is,” Eren yelled.

“It’s not a lion,” Levi scoffed, looking around for the tools to start preparing the meat.

“No? Then what is it?” Eren asked, still sort of yelling. “By the old gods, you’re bleeding,” he then hissed as he saw red seep from a big scratch on Levi’s arm.

“It wouldn’t go easily,” Levi said with a chuckled before finding the machete in the box of tools. “Didn’t have a chance after we hit the water, of course.”

“For fucks sake,” Eren breathed before collecting himself a little. He rummaged through his clothes to pick up a dark shirt, sitting down beside Levi. He tried rubbing off most of the blood before wrapping it tightly around his arm. Levi was only mildly annoyed, being interrupted from where he was skinning the animal.

While Eren hadn’t learned much about cat animals in the south he could now tell it probably wasn’t a lion. He didn’t know the exact size of those, but this cat-like animal was more closer to a large dog in size, or a small wolf.

“Do you even know how it tastes?” Eren asked after watching Levi work for a minute. His back fin was still up, probably from the adrenaline kick Levi got from the short fight, and Eren pushed the spiked fin down flat to lean against him.

“No. But it’s got four legs and lives on land, I’m sure letting my instincts pick will be in our favor,” he said and Eren laughed against his neck, brushing his lips against the skin there. He couldn’t lie to himself and say he didn’t find it arousing when Levi proved himself to be a good hunter. All the hunting he did underwater was rarely visible to Eren above the surface, so to see Levi battle a predator like that somehow… got his ears up, so to speak.

***-***-***

“F-fuck… fuck,” Eren breathed, dropping his head back against the thin mattress. He panted loudly, desperate for air in the small hut. “Get the door open, fuck,” he pleaded, toes still trembling where he lied naked, all sheets pushed aside.

“Can I at least get a please,” Levi asked, groaning as he pushed himself up a bit, slamming his tail against the small door by the end. Cold night air flowed into the small room, Eren sighing in pleasure, having forgotten what Levi asked a second ago.

They laid there for a minute, collecting their breath. Eren’s legs were aching a bit, a mark on his neck stinging. Perhaps Levi had broken skin again with his goddamn sharp teeth.

“Perhaps I should fight more seals on land just to impress you,” Levi said after a moment, Eren instantly falling into a set of giggles.

“But I don’t like seal,” he said, rolling to his side to watch his partner where Levi had closed his eyes, chest still moving quick with his breathing.

“Neither do I but it clearly turns you on,” he said, smirking a little. Eren rolled his eyes but took Levi’s hand, leading it to his lips where he pushed his fingers inside. Levi immediately opened his eyes, staring intently at Eren as the human teasingly sucked and licked at his fingers.

“You don’t need to fight seals to impress me,” Eren said after a moment, smiling at the other. Levi tilted his head a little, but a small smile fell on his lips eventually.

Leaning forwards he closed his eyes, meeting Eren’s lips halfway. The kiss was shy at first, Eren only teasingly nipping on Levi’s lower lip. The merman then tilted his head, lulling Eren’s tongue in between his lips, leaning a bit over him on the bed.

It was the small things, Eren thought as he slid his hands up into Levi’s hair. With a world with only Levi he realized how everything else around them seemed so unimportant.

***-***-***

The green mountains were massive in front of them, Eren taking another deep breath, having forgotten to breathe for a second. They had safely passed through the stream dividing the two islands. Eren had noted down in his journal that there was a small shop for clams and oysters at the end, where Eren instead had bought some coconuts along with spices. Clams and oysters Levi could find on his own anyway. The seller had a rather nice knife Eren was trying to bargain him into selling, but no could do. It would have to be bought at their next stop.

Eren reached for his quill, sitting up to cross his legs. Glancing at the mountains, tilting his head and comparing the distance and size, he tried giving it justice in his journal. Levi liked watching him draw, enjoyed browsing through his drawings in black ink and occasionally painted red with beets. Levi had supplied him with the ink of an ugly fish once, which was dark blue tinted but smelled worse than death itself. Levi had quickly thrown the dead thing overboard when the smell hit the air, both him and Eren nearly gagging. It was a nice thought though.

They got closer to the mountains on their way but turned west to round the island that way, the cliffs too sharp and dangerous to try to board land anywhere on that side. As they passed along the bay Eren listened to the sound of humans become louder and louder. The sound of their working in the early morning was surprisingly missed by Eren; watching a blacksmith work on metal most likely for boat parts while others loaded ships full of tools or export. Levi had escaped underwater a while ago and was gently helping Eren get the boat a spot on the pier, pushing under the surface.

After tying it in place on the jetty and paying the young boy who collected the payments, Eren sat on the jetty, legs dangling over the water. He hummed to himself, watching the fishermen load their boats, readying their nets. Levi got his attention a few minutes later where he discreetly reached up to hand Eren their coin bag, the one he’d taken with him to search for coins on the ocean floor.

“A small kid on the beach saw me,” Levi muttered, hiding in the shadows underneath him. Eren glanced around them, but no one seemed to notice anything odd.

“Did you scare him?” Eren asked, pretending to be occupied with scratching his leg as a fisherman looked over at him.

“Probably. But I heard his friends not believing him so I wouldn’t worry,” he shrugged and Eren snorted. “There isn’t a sign of merpeople here as far as I can see either. Must only be traveling groups passing now and then.”

“Okay. See you in a bit,” Eren said after getting up, stretching a bit. Strapping his small bag to his belt he headed towards town, making sure his pocket knife was easily accessible should anyone try anything. Levi couldn’t come with him after all.

The market was incredibly busy and nothing like Trost. There were brothel women chatting and seducing men around every corner, bars already open and drunk pirates already fighting. Eren stuck to the sides, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people and things sold at the stands. He reminded himself to keep his money sack in a tight hold against his side. This place was probably swarming with pocket thieves, he thought as he saw two young boys run through and around legs.

Even went a little overboard and spent most of what Levi had found earlier. He got himself another journal, even though his had quite a lot of space left. But it was cheap, and the dyed leather was green and it was so pretty. Eren couldn't help himself. He was sure Levi would understand.

There were wooden carved statues depicting many creatures of the mythical, sold by a man with red, wild hair. Eren glanced at the wooden figure, carved to depict a busty mermaid. With a snort he decided best to not.

Levi had been picking crabs as well as more coins and trinkets from the bottom of the harbor, fattening up both their stomachs and coin purse. Eren decided to take a swim with him before the sun went down. The forest peeked out a couple metres away from the harbor and to their right some kids had come out to play in the water. Levi stayed deep underwater, diving deeper as Eren tried catching up. He followed him down but wasn’t really able to reach the bottom as the water was incredibly deep. He could barely see the ocean floor apart from big rocks sometimes being reached by the sunlight. Which would explain why this place in particular was so full of treasure for Levi to find, humans being unable to swim down and pick it back up.

Wrapped in a towel Eren later ate a skinny chicken he’d bought from the market. Levi had notified him he would spend the night underwater, which Eren accepted. When they were out on the ocean Levi couldn’t very well dive to the bottom to sleep and then come up to find Eren in the morning. With the waves moving the boat they still traveled long distances while they slept onboard, even with the sail down. They could very well loose each other like that, and Levi said his comfort of sleeping underwater certainly wasn’t worth that.

Levi had told Eren the ocean was very, very deep and that he would never be able to see the bottom. That the darkness just metres down was overwhelming and though comforting, eventually too much. Eren wasn’t sure it was _that_ deep; mountains on land could only reach so far, after all.

It was difficult leaving the harbor the next day as many ships tried getting out at the same time in the morning. Eren cursed as a skiff with two younger passed him, one of them accidentally slamming his paddle against Eren and Levi’s boat. Eren decided to wait a little and did a quick clean up of the boat, thanking an old man who owned the boat next to them. He had lent out his swine brush to Eren. It had sort of been a fair deal however, as Eren in turn listened to to the man tell his stories of adventure and of that time he caught a 2 meter halibut in his young days. He kind of told the story twice though, Eren noticed as he scrubbed his deck, occasionally answering and nodding to the man sitting on his own boat floating beside Eren’s. He had probably been infected with the forgetfulness as some old people were, Eren thought. To him, it was the scariest illness of them all. He couldn’t imagining forgetting Levi and Armin and Mikasa… and his mother. Eren frowned and tried clearing his head.

A thud against the underside of the boat made Eren straighten up. “Just a minute,” he said to no one, aware Levi could hear him from underneath.

After waving the old man goodbye Eren steered the boat out from the harbor, tiling his head to get rid of the knots in his head. The wind was wild but not as cold, the sun close to sitting at the top of the sky. Eren let it push around his hair as he let the sail out, feeling the boat start to pull with it. He stood there for a minute, holding onto the short mast, watching the harbor fall further and further away. A splash had him gazing over his shoulder, watching Levi shake the water out from his hair before reaching for the towel Eren had put there for him.

Eren sat down on the floor, leaning away from Levi as he scooted over to sit beside him, tail rolling around him.

“Did you find something fun?” Eren asked, taking the towel from Levi’s shoulders to dry him off himself instead, since Levi didn’t do the best job. He was apparently distracted by his bag on his hip, unclasping it to dump it on the floor. First he pulled out a large golden goblet of some sort. Eren raised his eyebrows, reaching over to inspect it.

“It’s certainly gold, but some of the stones are missing,” Levi said, gesturing to the dents where diamonds must’ve fallen out.

“It’s very pretty though. I’m sure we’ll get a lot for it,” Eren smiled, scratching at some of the white barnacles on the handle.

“Some coins from the old kingdom, some new,” Levi continued, putting his finds in small piles. “Two knives, both in good condition.”

Eren shone up, inspecting both blades. Both had undeniably belonged to fishermen who must’ve dropped them overboard leaving or returning to the harbor, but both were in new and good conditions. “Thank you,” he grinned, leaning over to give Levi a short kiss. He smelled like fish or whatever seafood he’d eaten, but Eren was used to that by now. The kiss unintentionally turned a bit deeper and Eren abruptly pulled Levi back, realizing how much he’d missed him. Levi snorted at him, kissing his forehead as Eren flushed a little over his own behaviour.

“If only you turned this happy when I brought you fish,” Levi said, gesturing to the two knives. Eren rolled his eyes.

“We just needed a good new knife and I kept forgetting to buy one.”

“Mhm,” Levi hummed, smiling. He then turned back to his bag, pulling out the last item. Giving Eren a serious look he put it in his open palms.

Eren stared at the large key, the metal rusted and aged. With a frown he pulled it closer to his face, turning it over and rubbing a thumb over the small inscription. Because of the state of the key it was a little hard to make out, but Eren finally read it, leaning back to look at Levi.

“This… this says… Helos’ heart,” Eren breathed, the key suddenly feeling much heavier in his hands. “Helos of Marley?”

Levi tilted his head a little, gazing at the key, but then nodded shortly.

“The island that the ocean ate,” Eren whispered, shifting his free arm around himself. Clearing his voice he tried to remember the rhyme.

“ _The island that the ocean ate, the old gods brought it’s fate. Though none escaped with life or gold, the cursed land stories told_ ,” he frowned, “Uh, something about battles and then... _land of Helos lures the fools_.”

“Interesting rhyme,” Levi said, reaching for the blanket behind him, pulling it over his shoulders. The sun had hid behind clouds, Eren realized, glancing up.

“We were told it as children. That it’s stupid to go looking. Not that anyone really expected _anyone_ to go look anyway, since it’s just a… myth.”

“We’ve got time,” Levi shrugged.

Eren took out his map, tracing the lines and numbers. It would be a slight detour of their planned journey. But what did that matter, he thought with a grin.

They had time.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading~ Whether you're new or returning after 4 years (goddamn)
> 
> (Also, I have an idea of doing something similar for my fic Counting Sheep; if any readers of this have read that too, would you like that? (｡´∀｀)ﾉ )


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